Just fitted 7A cams and

[gnutz2]

In the past few months of driving the golf the ticking hydraulic tappets have gradually got worse up until the point i coul'nt drive the car without them chattering away. I decided i might aswell fit new cams when i do the hydraulics. Afterall standard ABY cams and the gt35r turbo dont really go together.

I spoke to catcams on the phone and they really do know what they are talking about, unfortunately its £650+vat for the cams they recommended and the tappets on top of that . Well out of my budget

I bought some 7a cams of a forum member on here (thanks Papvas) and also bought a new set of tappets from my local engine builder.

I decided to fit both cams as i'm tor really intrested in any performace below 4500rpm.

The first thing i noticed is the engine note has changed slightly, so i took it out to see what happend to the drive. I think there is a noticable difference in spool up but the top end feels very strong. Really it was hard to tell because the roads were wet and the car was spinning in a lot of gears.

Looking at the data log the AFR's dont seem to have changed too much, maybe leaner at bottom end and getting rich at top but nothing to concern me.

I`ll update this thread when i can drive it in the dry :mischeif:

[Rusty]

Good stuff, been a while since some real-world data was posted. The engine note changes with NA cars when you cam them so no reason why the S2 engine is any different I suppose. Might be worth thinking about adjustable wheels so you can adjust the inlet a little as it's quite a lot more advanced than the OE cams. Post any GTech etc. data you can get you hands on

[gnutz2]

The problem is when you change the inlet timing you also change the exhaust.

I`m thinking if i want serious power i'll change the cams to catcams or something like that in the future and go the whole hog with solid lifters and better valve springs (maybe even a gt40 turbo), the problem is no one states a check height when they quote the duration of any audi cams which makes comparing them to catcam or a dbilas cams impossible.

See here http://www.catcams.co.uk/durations.asp

Basically duration without check height is useless.

[Rusty]

You can get adjustable wheels for each cam rather than a pulley, 034 do them at about $60 each.

The 7A cams are pretty similar in lift and are slightly less duration to the turbo catcams but timing is slightly different. I'm sure some careful setup work could get the 7A cams to give better results for your high power application, it's just whether that is worth the money saving over CatCams.

[A80Avant]

is it possible to ask from catcams or any cam manufacturer by giving them the specs of the rs2 exhaust cam to make a cam that will keep the duration and change the lift only?so that there wont be any retard/advance mix with the inlet one,so no overlapping but you could still get the 7A cam lift etc so that you can have more power on the top end?

Or is it easier to get the 7A cam adjustable instead?

[gnutz2]

You can get adjustable wheels for each cam rather than a pulley, 034 do them at about $60 each.

The 7A cams are pretty similar in lift and are slightly less duration to the turbo catcams but timing is slightly different. I'm sure some careful setup work could get the 7A cams to give better results for your high power application, it's just whether that is worth the money saving over CatCams.

These are the cams they offerd me.

cat cams 1002335

INTAKE EXHAUST

duration [0.1mm+cl] 275° 258°
duration [1.0mm+cl] 239° 224°
valve lift [cl=0] 11.50mm 10.00mm

7A cams

I think the durations are quite wild compared to audi cams (the exhaust has similar lift), but then again we dont know the clocking height's of the audi cams so the information is useless for comparing them.

[Rusty]

The 7A cams are something like 224 212 @ 1mm so are a similar ratio to the Catcams but less wild, of course an RS2 (+10deg) camwheel would make things interesting but would kill the low-end! Depends what you're after but on a GT40 low end torque is something other people have so go wild! Catcams are expensive but they seemed pretty confident that they'd give good results when I phoned them.

Here are the 034 gears.

[gnutz2]

I`ll report back when i get some testing done.

Basically i know the car can do an 11.2 quarter with the ABY cams, so next racing i`'ll see what she can do

[newsh]

One of the first things I noticed with the 7A ex cam was that the engine note changed.

[aelred]

Most after market manufacturers give different timing/duration at different lifts, this is so that the cam profile is difficult to copy unless you have the original to copy.
For anyone interested I have a full set of new Catcams, solid followers, springs and retainers for sale

[aelred]

By the way the adjustable sprockets on both cams only alter the adjustment on the inlet, you still need an adjustable cam pulley in order to change the exhaust timing.

[Rusty]

Aelred, you're always tempting us

The NM cam timing always looked a little better suited to a road S2 so advancing a 7A cam by 6degrees is an interesting option. I might look into this depending on how the 7A inlet goes when I finally get it fitted.

[aelred]

I believe and others will prove me wrong I am sure, if you have to advance or retard the cams you are using the wrong cams. That is my pennies worth.

[Rusty]

In a perfect world, yes, but I don't necessarily agree, it's all down to personal requirements for you engine as tweaking the cam timing can substantially alter the characteristics to suit your requirements. Porsche stuck with a stock ABY inlet cam and retarded it 10 degrees for the RS2 although admittedly they matched it with a custom exhaust cam. If there were grinds of cam for every taste and every tweak inbetween then there would be thousands per engine, it'd be like chosing coffee! As ever commercial aspects are the limiting factor meaning that sometime you just have to make-do.

[Jamo]

I believe and others will prove me wrong I am sure, if you have to advance or retard the cams you are using the wrong cams. That is my pennies worth.

Wise words